Bible Study Material

   Below is a bible study resource, The Glory of God, and a study guide. The study resource is a collection of excerpts from some of the greatest theologians throughout church history such as Jonathan Edwards, John Owen, Hermon Bavinck, A.W. Pink, John Flavel, Cornelius Van Til, etc.  I have inserted my comments in serveral of them to help clear up things you may not understand. The study guide is a list of books for you to study.  See some excerpts below.

Sayings and Summaries of some Key Doctrines

This next pdf file is a sample of a bible commentary.

Bible Talk around the campfire; it doesn't get any better than this!

Letter from David Brainerd to a young minister, 1747

Very Dear Sir,  How amazing it is, that the living who know they must die, should notwithstanding “put far away the evil day,” in a season of health and prosperity; and live at such an awful distance from a familiarity with the grave, and the great concerns beyond it! and especially it may justly fill us with surprise, that any whose minds have been divinely enlightened, to behold the important things of eternity as they are, I say, that such should live in this manner. And yet, Sir, how frequently is this the case! how rare are the instances of those who live and act from day to day, as on the verge of eternity; striving to fill up all their remaining moments in the service and to the honour of their great Master! We insensibly trifle away time, while we seem to have enough of it; and are so strangely amused, as in a great measure to lose a sense of the holiness and blessed qualifications necessary to prepare us to be inhabitants of the heavenly paradise. But oh, dear Sir, a dying bed, if we enjoy our reason clearly, will give another view of things. I have now, for more than three weeks, lain under the greatest degree of weakness; the greater part of the time, expecting daily and hourly to enter into the eternal world: sometimes have been so far gone, as to be wholly speechless, for some hours together. And oh, of what vast importance has a holy spiritual life appeared to me to be at this season! I have longed to call upon all my friends, to make it their business to live to God; and especially all that are designed for, or engaged in, the service of the sanctuary. O, dear Sir, do not think it enough to live at the rate of common Christians. Alas, to how little purpose do they often converse, when they meet together! The visits even of those who are called Christians indeed, are frequently extremely barren; and conscience cannot but condemn us for the misimprovement of time, while we have been conversant with them. But the way to enjoy the divine presence, and be fitted for distinguishing service for God, is to live a life of great devotion and constant self-dedication to him; observing the motions and dispositions of our own hearts, whence we may learn the corruptions that lodge there, and our constant need of help from God for the performance of the least duty. And oh, dear Sir, let me beseech you frequently to attend the great and precious duties of secret fasting and prayer.  I have a secret thought from some things I have observed, that God may perhaps design you for some singular service in the world. Oh then labour to be prepared and qualified to do much for God. Read Mr. Edwards’s piece on the affections, again and again; and labour to distinguish clearly upon experiences and affections in religion, that you may make a difference between the gold and the shining dross. I say, labour here, if ever you would be a useful minister of Christ; for nothing has put such a stop to the work of God in the late day as the false religion, and the wild affections that attend it. Suffer me therefore, finally, to entreat you earnestly to “give yourself to prayer, to reading and meditation” on divine truths: strive to penetrate to the bottom of them, and never be content with a superficial knowledge. By this means, your thoughts will gradually grow weighty and judicious; and you hereby will be possessed of a valuable treasure, out of which you may produce “things new and old,” to the glory of God.  

Excerpts

“God’s purpose for my life was that I have a passion for God’s glory and that I have a passion for my joy in that glory, and that these two are one passion.” 

   - Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards on God’s Nature

   As to the first of these, I think the following things appear to be the dictates of reason:

   1. That no notion of God’s last end in the creation of the world, is agreeable to reason, which would truly imply any indigence, insufficiency, and mutability in God; or any dependence of the Creator on the creature, for any part of his perfection or happiness. Because it is evident, by both Scripture and reason, that God is infinitely, eternally, unchangeably, and independently glorious and happy: that he cannot be profited by, or receive anything from, the creature; or be the subject of any sufferings, or diminution of his glory and felicity, from any other being. The notion of God creating the world, in order to receive any thing properly from the creature, is not only contrary to the nature of God, but inconsistent with the notion of creation, which implies a being receiving its existence, and all that belongs to it, out of nothing.  And this implies the most perfect, absolute, and universal derivation and dependence. Now, if the creature receives its ALL from God, entirely and perfectly, how is it possible that it should have anything to add to God, to make him in any respect more than he was before, and so the Creator become dependent on the creature?   God’s Chief End in Creation

Cornelius Van Til states:

   "As I have followed Calvin closely in stressing the fact that men ought to believe in God inasmuch as the evidence for his existence is abundantly plain, so I have also closely followed Calvin in saying that no sinner reacts properly to God’s revelation. Is this too sweeping a statement? It is simply the doctrine of total depravity. All sinners are covenant breakers. They have an axe to grind. They do not want to keep God in remembrance. They keep under the knowledge of God that is within them. That is they try as best they can to keep under this knowledge for fear they should look into the face of their judge.

   They want to suppress the truth in unrighteousness. They will employ their reason for that purpose. And they are not formally illogical if, granted the assumption of man’s ultimacy, they reject the teachings of Christianity. On the contrary, to be logically consistent they are bound to do so.  The Defense of the Faith

Hermon Bavinck on the doctrine of God:

   He receives nothing, but only gives. All things need him; he needs nothing or nobody. He always aims at himself because he cannot rest in anything other than himself.  Inasmuch as he himself is the absolutely good and perfect one, he may not love anything else except with a view to himself. He may not and cannot be content with less than absolute perfection.

   When he loves others, he loves himself in them: his own virtues, works, and gifts. For the same reason he is also blessed in himself as the sum of all goodness, of all perfection. Hermon Bavinck, Vol. 2 pg. 211]

John Flavel on the will of man

   View its will, and you shall find it like a queen upon the throne of the soul, swaying the sceptre of liberty in her hand, (as one expresses it) with all the affections waiting and attending upon her. No tyrant can force it, no torment can wrest the golden sceptre of liberty out of its hand; the keys of all the chambers of the soul hang at its girdle, these it delivers to Christ in the day of his power; victorious grace sweetly determines it by gaining its consent, but commits no violence upon it. God accepts its offering though full of imperfections; but no service is accepted without it, how excellent so ever be the matter of it.  John Flavel, A Treatise on the Soul of Man pg. 254

J. Sheed (1930) offers a sobering assessment:

“A study of what is happening to theology in its higher reaches would almost certainly take as its starting point the attribute of simplicity, and show that every current heresy begins by being wrong on that.”

Going Through the Wilderness

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Some of the Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards

4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.

23. Resolved, frequently to take some deliberate action, which seems most unlikely to be done, for the glory of God, and trace it back to the original intention, designs and ends of it; and if I find it not to be for God’s glory, to repute it as a breach of the 4th Resolution.

28. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.

30. Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before.

38. Resolved, never to speak anything that is ridiculous, sportive, or matter of laughter on the Lord’s day. Sabbath evening, Dec. 23, 1722.

44. Resolved, that no other end but religion, shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it. Jan. 12, 1723.

45. Resolved, never to allow any pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of affection, nor any circumstance relating to it, but what helps religion. [Jan. 12 and 13, 1723.]

46. Resolved, never to allow the least measure of any fretting uneasiness at my father or mother. Resolved to suffer no effects of it, so much as in the least alteration of speech, or motion of my eye: and to be especially careful of it, with respect to any of our family.

47. Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good, and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peaceable, contented, easy, compassionate, generous, humble, meek, modest, submissive, obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable, even, patient, moderate, forgiving, sincere temper; and to do at all times what such a temper would lead me to. Examine strictly every week, whether I have done so. [Sabbath morning, May 5, 1723.]

48. Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or no; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of. May 26, 1723.

53. Resolved, to improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer. July 8, 1723.

56. Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.

57. Resolved, When I fear misfortunes and adversity, to examine whether I have done my duty, and resolve to do it and let the event be just as Providence orders it. I will, as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but my duty and my sin. June 9 and July 13, 1723.

Notes on the Gospel

by G Clark

   Do you ever ask yourself why we die? Or why does everything die? Most people believe that a good God created us, so why does death happen? This only makes sense if the story of Adam and Eve is true; in fact, this only makes sense if the bible is true. God warned Adam that if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that he would surely die. Adam was a “public” person, that is, he represented all his posterity; that includes you. Adam was the federal head of all mankind, so what Adam did, we all did. So when Adam disobeyed God, we all did and hence fell under the judgment of God.  Adam’s sin and the guilt of it was imputed by God to all his posterity; that’s why we all come into this world as sinful, corrupt and self-centered beings. Adam declared his independence from God and all of us do the same, a pretended independence. That is the curse and the disposition that we all have when we come into this world. And so all of us will die a natural death - and many, a spiritual death as well. This spiritual death is called the second death which is one going to hell and incurring the wrath of God forever in the lake of fire. This is unspeakable and unimaginable.

   But there is a way to escape this second death which the good news that the Gospel describes, and that is by believing in the Saviour, Jesus Christ, who paid the ransom that would set many captives free, not only free from the blinding power of the dominion of sin and Satan, but also from the judgment to come. This is accomplished by the free grace of God, the gift of faith, Eph. 2:8-9, aka, the gift of believing, Phil. 1:29. I say free because God bestows this gift to whom he will: I will mercy upon whom I have mercy, Rom. 9:16. God initiates this conversion, this being born again, and he finishes it. We are passive in this affair, so to speak. It’s not that God believes for us, but he works in us according to the counsel of his own will, Phil. 2:13. This is heavy. Therefore, the law of faith excludes all human boasting. One who is truly converted cannot say that he was smarter or more spiritual than the other guy down the street who did not believe. As Jesus said the Nicodemus in John 3:8, it is the Spirit of God who is like the wind who works this!

   Be amazed and wonder, for To the one [the unbelieving] we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other [the believing ones] the aroma of life leading to life, 2Cor. 2:16.  

  ...but now [God] commands all men everywhere to repent, 31because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man [Jesus] whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”  Acts 17:30

    God created the world to display his glory, the excellency of his person which are his moral excellencies, the rectitude of his holy nature, his infinite and mighty power, wisdom, justice and grace. God made Adam and Eve in His image, and put them in the garden to test them if they would love him and obey his will. If they did, they and all their posterity would be in glory with God in heaven with joy unspeakable forever. They didn’t obey. They, in effect, declared their independence from God, went in league with Satan by eating the fruit that God said not to eat. And so all of his  posterity were cursed with this same wicked disposition, a pretended independence from God, all of which was God’s judgment; the imputation of Adam’s sin and guilt on all of his posterity. We put ourselves into the room of God! This is why all people come into this world as sinners, despisers of God and lovers of our assumed autonomy, addicted to our will and that, corrupted. (God punishes sin with the same sin.)  Some may object to this whole scene. But if all of Adam’s posterity are innocent, why are they all not in paradise? 

    Our hearts are deceitfully wicked. The seed of every sin is in all of us, e.g., sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, homosexuality, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. And as Paul said speaking to the believers in 1 Corinthians,  And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

    If you remain in this state of rebellion, you will suffer the eternal judgment in hell forever. BUT GOD!, who is rich in mercy, chose some to save from this judgment. A wicked heart must be made good if it is to believe the gospel of God; it is the Spirit of God that effects this change of heart – Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” … for unless you believe that I am he [the Messiah] you will die in your sins.” You must believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior God, and have a true heart to repent of your sin, seeing sin as it really is, rebellion against and infinitely holy God. Read the Bible and see if this is not so.